Years
by Angelus1
Summary: Sometimes, describing my life feels like watching one of those Ten Years Later segments at the end of movies.


Spoilers: None. 

Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.

Disclaimer: Veronica, Weevil, Mac, Beaver, Jackie, Wallace, Keith, Grandma Letti, and all other characters mentioned here are the property of UPN, Rob Thomas, Stu Segall, and Silver Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue, because I have no money.

Author's Notes: This is quite possibly _the_ cheesiest thing I have _ever_ written, and for that I apologize. I'm considering doing a few little interludes expounding on some of these scenes. Maybe. It's pretty tempting.

Also - if you're of age and interested, the last fic I wrote was NC-17 (WeeVer, obviously), and as such not posted here. It can be found on my website, under the "Other" --> "Big Damn Fic Table" section. It's prompt #10, entitled "Rain".

* * *

The summer before my senior year of high school, I stopped toting my camera around with me wherever I went. Dad was shocked, Mac and Wallace were grateful. Me? Somewhere in between all the drama and the cases and the friends and the enemies I had finally realized that there was far too much happening on the other side of the lens to be stuck behind it. So as a result, I have very few pictures to commemorate my final year of adolescence. 

But I don't need pictures, because the only memories that are worth anything are the ones that you'll never forget no matter how hard you try.

I went to Homecoming with Wallace. He had broken up with Jane a few weeks earlier and he and Jackie were on shaky ground, while I was just trying to stay single long enough to figure out what it was I wanted. So Wallace asked, and I accepted - simple as that. After all, I may not be Miss School Spirit, but when the captain of the basketball team is asking you to Homecoming, you just don't say no. Halfway through the dance, Jackie and Weevil arrived. Together. We stubbornly ignored them until the after-party that I grudgingly agreed to attend, only after lots of begging on Wallace's part. The night ended with Wallace and Jackie having sex in the backseat of his new car and me getting slightly tipsy off half of the flask of vodka Weevil and I shared while sitting on the beach and watching the waves. When I fell asleep in his lap, he carried me to his car, drove me home, and delivered me into my bed under the watchful eye of my father, who never even asked.

Weevil did indeed toss his cookies during the senior trip to Magic Mountain, but he never made it anywhere near Batman - it was the Ferris wheel that did him in. He took a major blow to the ego, because we've never let him forget about it, but the clam chowder and root beer from lunch that rained down on Madison Sinclair's hideously bleached head was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The day was bright and sunny and only seemed to bring out the best in people. Both Wallace and Weevil sweetly proclaimed me to be their best friend, and somehow I ended up holding Weevil's hand all day long.

The prom debate lasted for almost a month. Mac and I adamantly wanted to go. Wallace and Beaver - or Cass, as he prefers - were indifferent, with Jackie and Weevil firmly against. There were fights, there were tears, and there was screaming, but in the end we compromised - two hours spent at the dance, properly attired, in exchange for a road trip down to Tijuana for the rest of the weekend. In the end, neither end held up. With the others already paired up, I ended up going with Weevil. I had no complaints. Even with as much lip as he gave us about the tux, he looked incredible. Madison predictably was crowned Prom Queen, but instead of Dick being crowned King, it was Wallace. By the time Jackie and Weevil even thought about starting to complain, we had been there all night and they were shooing us out of the venue. Our limo, an early graduation present from Wallace's dad, was waiting to take us home, but we weren't ready to go. In one of the cheesiest things we've ever collectively done, we instructed him to crank up the radio, and shared one last dance in the parking lot. Everybody was off in their own little world, so nobody saw Weevil kiss me gently, and me kiss him right back.

At noon the next day, the plan had been to leave for Tijuana. Instead, we spent the entire weekend lounging around on the beach, doing absolutely nothing. Wallace and Cass played catch with Backup, Mac and Jackie laid in the shade reading, and Weevil made horribly inappropriate comments about my bathing suit. On Sunday night, we made the impromptu decision to camp out there, despite our parents' protests that it would be too cold. It almost was, but we stuck it out, determined to prove them wrong. After twenty minutes of begging, I finally climbed into Weevil's sleeping bag with him, if only because mine was so worn and ratty that it offered no heat whatsoever. We won't get into the details, but we'll just say that I did stay _very_ warm.

Graduation came sooner than any of us ever expected. One week we were collecting syllabi for our new classes, the next we were signing yearbooks and picking up our caps and gowns. With Duncan's absence, vice president Katie Keenan was asked to step in and give the commencement address. It was horribly pompous and full of older-than-old clichés. Mac made faces throughout the entire thing that were impossible not to giggle at. After that, they announced that I had won the Kane Scholarship. Technically, Beaver beat me by two tenths of a percent, but that's a detail that only me, my father, and the Kanes know. How Jake talked Celeste into it will forever remain just another one of life's mysteries, but he pulled me aside afterwards to tell me that I simply deserved it more, and that Lilly wouldn't have had it any other way. I cried and he hugged me, and when we pulled apart I dried my tears and we never spoke of it again. The rest of the night was a blur of green and yellow - caps and robes and parties and parents and Weevil sneaking kisses whenever he thought nobody was looking.

That last summer before freshman year of college was bittersweet. The Dirty Half-Dozen, as we had begun jokingly calling ourselves, became even more inseparable. Weevil and I had decided without really talking about it that our relationship wasn't going to be public knowledge, but the others figured it out pretty quickly; Jackie smugly proclaimed that she had known before we had. Some of his relatives weren't entirely happy with him dating a white girl, but the most important person in his life - his grandma - couldn't have been happier. She invited me to dinner all the time and showed me adorable baby pictures while I tried not to giggle. Telling my dad was the last hurdle. He was wary, and perhaps less than thrilled, but not at all surprised. But I know that he trusts my judgment, and there's never been any denying that being around Weevil makes me happier than I once thought possible.

Wallace and I both got accepted to Hearst. I also got accepted to UCLA (which Dad had applied to without my knowledge), Yale, Harvard, and NYU. I had had my heart set on Yale, but Dad managed to talk me into UCLA - out of Neptune, but not _too_ far away. Wallace also won the Hearst scholarship, so it was obvious where he was going. I had to admit that Dad's persuasion was worth it, because I couldn't have survived too far away from Wallace. Jackie didn't seem to share my problem, because she headed back to NYU to attend Ithaca. But somehow, they made it work anyway. Mac and Cass predictably shipped off to MIT together. Logan didn't apply anywhere, but being Aaron Echolls' son will always allow him a certain amount of pull - and, let's face it, the guy can be pretty damn charming when he wants to be. He sweet-talked his way into Neptune Community and graduated in two years with a general degree. He disappeared off of the planet after that, and nobody knows quite what happened to him. Duncan never resurfaced either - sometimes I wonder whatever happened to him, but I know he's a Kane - he's a survivor.

Weevil waited until the absolute last minute to tell me where he was going to college, and when he did I couldn't have been more thrilled. Move-in day consisted of me and Weevil loading up the backseat of the LeBaron and heading for UCLA with the top down. You know the deal - wind in our hair and sun on our shoulders. _Abuela_ Letti was right behind us in a van on loan from Angel filled to the brim with our furniture and clothing and a gaggle of Navarro cousins. Dad brought up the rear. Our dorms were right across the street from each other - Weevil still swears it was complete coincidence. Dad was practically adopted by the Navarros that day, and I'm forever grateful for that, because my main fear in leaving was that he would be alone.

Things haven't changed much since that first day - even after four years of both of us in college, two years of me in grad school, and a year and a half of running our own agency, we're still going strong. Oh, there have been both high points and low, but between the two of us we've got enough stubbornness for the whole of Neptune High's graduating class, and we know that we're better together than apart, so at the end of the day we always manage to find our way back to each other. Dad is thriving in Neptune - the agency is still going strong, and even though he's more than fine to retire, he just takes too much joy in the work. He fishes with Tito and baby-sits for Ophelia and swaps recipes with Letti and has even been dating around. He says he's not looking for anything long-term, but I know that he'll change his tune once he finds someone worthwhile.

Wallace and Jackie got married last year. Terrence got traded to the Chicago Bears the year before he retired, so they live a few blocks from his penthouse and about fifteen minutes away from Wallace's dad's suburban apartment. Mac and Cass broke up sophomore year of college and haven't seen each other since. I don't talk to Cass, but I know that he'll land on his feet. He probably owns his own business, if not more than one. I keep in touch with Mac, who bought Jackie's old apartment in New York. She's the vice-president of a software development company and making more money than even an '09er could dream of. She's been dating her boss Oliver for the last three years, and they have a six-month-old daughter named Sarah.

Sometimes, describing my life feels like watching one of those "Ten Years Later" segments at the end of movies. But the way Weevil figures it, we deserve a bit of happiness after everything we've been through, and I'm inclined to agree.

Last week, I dug up my old camera - the scratched, dented Nikon from my high-school days. I snapped pictures of Weevil, of Lisa and Carl that work at the agency with us, and of our pit bull Backup 2.0; of our house and our bedroom and the diamond engagement ring I found hidden in one of Weevil's dresser drawers.

These are the memories that I will never forget. But this way, no one else ever will either.


End file.
